DANCEUNITS OF STUDY

d is for dance

This delightful alphabetically themed program is sure to entertain! Students dance letters A through Z to gain phonological and print awareness while learning letter pathway for handwriting. Children enjoy matching animals, occupations, feelings, and basic vocabulary with each letter of the alphabet.

Level I, II, & III

English Language Arts: Pre-K - 1st Grade

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All about me

Head and shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes, and so much more! In a series of dance explorations inspired by Joan Sweeney's lively book "Me and My Amazing Body," students identify and move body parts that they can see and discover important body parts that are hidden beneath their skin. This introduction to anatomy allows even the youngest of children to realize just how amazing their bodies truly are.

English Language Arts: Pre-K - Kindergarten

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playground problems

Drrrriiiinnngg! It's recess! This fun series allows students to dance familiar playground activities such as gliding down twisty slides, spinning atop tire swings, and suspending from money bars in an effort to understand their unique abilities and feelings. These emotionally stimulating outdoor scenarios are the perfect opportunities for young children to compare and contrast their feelings to those of others. Watch your class hopscotch their way to knowing and sharing their classmates' emotions.

in, on, & under

This fun-filled workshop shows, not tells, students what prepositions are all about! Children explore this tricky aspect of the English language through the dance fundamental called space. Prepositions of place are introduced using physical actions to visualize and kinesthetically experience the location of a dancer on stage. Vocabulary comes to life as students dance positions (such as over, under, and around) to design multidimensional group sculptures.

English Language Arts: Kindergarten - 2nd Grade

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ANIMALS IN WINTER

Winter is coming and the animals are preparing! This series of dance lessons is inspired by Henrietta Bancroft's charming book "Animals in Winter." Students love dancing the smooth flight patterns of migrating birds, curling up like well-feed bears, and wrapping their limbs inward like wings, as they turn upside-down to form a class cluster of hibernating bats! And of course, the most favorite is the sneaky hunt of the red fox, because it ends with a BIG pounce to capture its prey!

Pre-K - 1st Grade

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...if you had fins

This program takes students on a fun, informative, and imaginative journey as they explore what it would be like if their own body was replaced with the anatomy of a particular sea creature. Featuring a dozen of marine life, (crabs, sharks, octopi, starfish, jellyfishes, seahorses, and more), students move with fins, pinchers, and tentacles to learn how an animal's form is especially adaptive for its survival. At the end of the program, your class will perform a vibrant aquarium full of ocean life.

shake, rattle, & roll

This action-packed dance project is most popular! Students expand their vocabulary as they use action verbs as a choreographic tool to create dynamic dance sentences. Creativity will ooze from your class as they crumble or rise, flutter or slump, drift or zoom across the classroom. These lessons allow kids to have fun with words to create amusing and energetic dances that they enjoy performing for one another!

English Language Arts: Kindergarten - 3rd Grade

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character building & storytelling

Students love exploring genre, character, plot, and the setting of this favorite fairytale to inspire their very own fictional stories. Each student driven story will be shared orally and will be accompanied by original choreography.

English Language Arts: Kindergarten - 3rd Grade

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stargazing

What is more inspiring than space? Get ready to be fascinated by the flecks of light twinkling in the night sky. Creativity will soar beyond the Big Dipper as students create dances inspired by celestial bodies, constellations, and myths. Prepare yourself for choreography that will skyrocket out of this world!

English Language Arts: 1st - 2nd Grade

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footprints on the moon

May the Force be with you as you defy gravity in the most stimulating way to learn aboutthe eight phases of the moon. Students thoroughly enjoy gearing up in imaginary spacesuits to float across the moon's craters. Students orbit, rotate, and spin in counterclockwise patterns in an effort to dance the moon's relationship between the sun and earth. Now, lace up your moon boots and prepare for takeoff!

English Language Arts: 1st - 2nd Grade

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MUMMIES AND PYRAMIDS

What child isn't curious to learn more about mummies, those 'huge triangles', and hieroglyphics? In this dance residency, students explore Early World Civilizations by becoming architects themselves. They uncover treasures that reveal information about what the Egyptians called the afterlife. Students bring the symbols along the walls to life by creating a flat, two-dimensional physical language that they perform in a life-size representation of a great wonder of the world. Learning about ancient Egypt has never been more fun!

English Language Arts: 1st - 2nd Grade

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chew, Swallow, Squeeze, & Churn

Students are naturally intrigued by lessons on the human body. In fact, most kids LOVE to hear all the 'gross' aspects of our anatomy. In this series of dance classes students embark upon a fun full-body exploration of how food travels through our 'gut.' Children like dancing their way through an oversized obstacle course inspired by the amazing design of our digestive track. Don't let your students miss this exciting opportunity to discover the interesting movement within them!

English Language Arts & Science: 1st - 3rd Grade

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!hello, new york city

Hail a taxi! It's time for a fabulous tour of the Big Apple! In this sightseeing program, students explore famous landmarks throughout New York. This series features a dozen of historical attractions, such as Central Park, the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building, the Brooklyn Bridge, and more! Kids love spotting urban details and using their body to express the characteristics of the architecture and the activities that occur at each sight. Best of all, the students' NYC inspired choreography will have them Broadway bound in no time!

English Language Arts: 2nd- 3rd Grade

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minimalist movers

In a series of dance explorations inspired by “Composition II in Red, Blue, and Yellow" by Piet Mondrian (1930), students explore pure line and color through dance. Students experiment creating movement grids through space that are accented with energetic geometric figures. This introduction to abstract art helps open children’s view of what art is and reminds them of the wide range of styles used by different visual and dance artists. Students use the stage as a canvas to create a minimal dance masterpiece!

English Language Arts & Mathematics: 2nd - 5th Grade

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LIFE IN colonial america

As with so much of history, it takes a personal experience to make past events seem real. This dance unit is inspired by Ann McGovern's book “If You Lived In Colonial Times.” It is ideal for students struggling to relate to the people and lifestyle of this era. Boys and girls love imagining themselves dressed in colonial attire as they embody the proper etiquette that social dances required. Students have a grand time comparing and contrasting the fashion, social behavior, and recreational activities of the past and present. By the end of the program, students will marvel over the similarities between the dances Minuet and hip-hop!

English Language Arts: 3rd - 4th Grade

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bullfrog at magnolia circle

The words and illustrations of the book "Bullfrog at Magnolia Circle" by Deborah Dennard

come to life in this dance unit. The exuberance of learning how to zigzag like lightning,rumble like thunder, and bulge like a bullfrog's throat with each "brrwoom, brrwoom" will have students grinning from ear to ear.

Children work in groups to select their favorite passages of evocative language to develop, structure, and perform their own expressive choreography. My favorite excerpt is "rain cascades from the sky, soaking the earth." What's yours?

English Language Arts: 3rd - 4th Grade

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Freeze, Melt, & float

This dance series supports the National Science Standards in Physical Science and Science as Inquiry.Children have a blast using everyday actions to kinesthetically experience the qualities of solids, liquids, and gases. Full-body activities explore shape, texture, size mass, buoyancy, and magnetism. It’s a real treat to use the human body to form a fixed unyielding figure, wiggle continuously like a watery substance, or roam freely like airborne particles.

Science: 3rd - 6th Grade

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Interpreting History through Dance

This biographically based curriculum helps children imagine what it was like to be a slave escaping on the Underground Railroad. The inspiring story of Harriet Tubman, a slave who helped other slaves leave the South, teaches kids about strength and courage. Students deepen their understanding of this important part of American history by imaginatively retelling it through dance. The popular work "Revelations" by choreographer Alvin Ailey portrays the African-American journey from slavery to freedom. This enduring dance classic has become a cultural treasure and inspires children tocreate tableaus expressing the deepest of grief and holiest joy of the human spirit.

culture shapes dance

Is Dabbing, -where your heads drops into the crook of your elbow, a cultural dance form? You bet it is. This literacy inspired dance unit opens students’ minds to new cultures, which in turn allows them to see their own values more clearly. Students use the Five W Questions to investigate current and past dance forms to discover how the unique characteristics of a particular group of people influence the development of a new style of dancing. Who, what, when, where, & why become tools for creativity. The result is showstopping student choreography that is decorated with vibrant bursts of pop culture!

English Language Arts: 3rd - 6th Grade

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pull, lift, & lower

Tomorrow’s scientists and engineers will have a blast learning about simple machines in this dance workshop perfected for curious minds. Movement explorations provide an introduction into the most important machines that humans rely on: wheel and axle, wedge, and screw. Lever and pulley and inclined plane, too! Students learn how these tools make daily life easier through step-by-step, action-packed dance instruction. Learning about tackles and gears could not be more fun!

THE GOLDEN RULE

This program promotes a school environment where all students thrive! Students are coached on desirable character values, such as self-control, dependability, and perseverance to foster anti-bullying behavior. Participants explore literary theme statements that are relevant to promoting positive character traits (i.e. “be kind to others” and “hard work pays off”), The dance assignments guide students to translate ethics into movement. Students communicate powerful messages about the world they want to live in. Their final performance of their “Values in Action” will demonstrate their understanding of the project’s target vocabulary as well as choreographic fundamentals.

empowerment through words and dance

Students discover how figurative language enhances a writer’s ability to portray theme in this compassionate module. Children examine the Author’s Crafts used in Katy Perry’s popular song Roar to understand how her writing team communicates a message about the importance of standing up for oneself. Alliteration, idiom, and simile are a few of the structures used to design movements that proclaim self-respect! The excitement that accompanies learning to express ideas through written, spoken, and danced languages will have lasting effects. Students’ creative voices will be seen and heard through powerful messages of self-worth!

Pixel Perfect

Who wouldn't want to turn an umbrella into a dance partner under cascading rain likeGene Kelly in the iconic film "Singin' in the Rain?" The plot teaches students about a very specific time in history when Hollywood transitioned from silent films to talking pictures. Children investigate the impact that new technologies have on human begins throughout time. Middle and high school students artistically comment on the theme of lies and deceit. They use handheld devices to record progressive films, shot in unconventional spaces, to capture the ways in which social media users and movie stars embellish the truth to garner followers. This program informs adolescents of skewed realities while encouraging them to think twice about their online presence.

English Language Arts: 1st - 12th Grade

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DANCE ISN'T ALWAYS PRETTY

The classic 1944 ballet, Appalachian Spring, serves as a model to showcase three great artists; trailblazing choreographer Martha Graham, composer Aaron Copland, and set designer Isamu Noguchi. Graham's fascinating creative process is experienced up-close as students learn that movement is not always intended to be pretty! Graham's distinguished dance technique inspires students to create movement lexicons of their own. Noguchi s avant-garde stage design paves the way for students to invent spare, angular backdrops that frame their own dances, while Copland's keen ear guides students to select sounds to accompany their movement. Students will capture the drama of dance, music, and stage design while learning the glory of true collaboration!

English Language Arts: 3rd - 6th Grade

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Project PAUSE

We all crave a little stillness from time to time. Stress is a part of life and it is our responsibility to supply children with tools for personal growth and wellbeing. ​This unit draws upon the beauty of Mother Nature to inspire mindfulness. Reflecting on the magnificence of our surroundings allows students to unshackle the constraints of time. Children improve their focus and adaptability as they become attuned to the innate rhythms all around them. Students develop artful interpretations of the ebb and flow of various lifecycles such as flower to fruit, caterpillar to butterfly, and sunrise to sunset. Students can transfer this deep sensibility to become present in all of their other activities.

English Language Arts, Science: 2nd - 6th Grade

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from field to stage

Did you know dance and sports go hand in hand? In this module, we merge the best of both disciples to maximum student preparation in each. Dance class improves athleticism by increasing balance, flexibility, and endurance, which are all desirable attributes for sports! Believe it or not, training in sports can enhance your creativity, which is a preferred skill for choreographers. Students have a ball reorganizing drills from their favorite games into dynamics dances that sports fans love. Evander Holyfield, Barry Sanders, and Lynn Swan used dance to hone their coordination, body awareness, and posture. The ball is in your court to experience all the benefits of our sports-based dance team!

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Physical Education Learning Standards:

Kindergarten - 6th Grade

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JUST SKIP

The goal of this hybrid fitness and art program is to promote healthy lifestyles by increasing physical activity, fostering creativity, and improving self-esteem. Students bounce their way through basic dance skills and gradually master showstopping fitness tricks. Training begins with skills for the Individual Rope and progresses to Partner Work, Single Long Rope, and Double Dutch! Best of all, members learn hopping techniques they didn’t know were possible, like the Great Egg Beater! Just Jump participants have a blast learning how to stay healthy while expressing themselves through cardiovascular jump roping dances!

Physical Education Learning Standards:

2nd- 12th Grade

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conquer core curriculum

Do you have a particular concept that your students are struggling with? A topic you would like to investigate deeper? Or a particular book, sculpture, or artifact your students would enjoy learning more about?If so, we will transform your academic inquiry into a memorable, full-body learning experience that your students will cherish!